How Valuable is Yoenis Cespedes?

Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics have long been known for acquiring undervalued players. Some recent examples of this are Chris Young (11.7 WAR, 103 OPS+ from 2010-12), John Jaso (6.1 WAR, 115 OPS+ from 2010-12), and Brandon Moss (1.9 WAR, 160 OPS+ in 2012).

They’re also equally known for selling high on replaceable assets, like, for instance, trading Andrew Bailey (7.04 ERA, 63 ERA+ in 2012) for Josh Reddick (4.5 WAR, 110 OPS+ in 2012), Miles Head (.333/.391/.577/.968 line at Advanced-A/Double-A), and Raul Alcantara (wasn’t good in 2012, but who cares).

But when the A’s signed Cuban-import Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year, $36MM deal last off-season, it was surprising. It was surprising because the signing had nothing to do with the usual peripheral analysis, and market inefficiency recognition. No, the A’s signing Cespesdes was a pure scouting move–something the A’s rarely tap into. And it paid off, big time.…read the rest of this article at Baseball News Source.